Struktur - I

Struktur - I
Frieder Blume goes out of his way to stay under the radar, but the quality of his output warrants wider attention. His own productions and the curation of his old label, both called Σ or Summe, found common ground between featherlight studies of Mills-school techno minimalism and glacial drone pieces. Sarah Davachi's and Ekin Fil's respective 7-inches were prime examples of the latter strain, while Caterina Barbieri and Carlo Maria's superb EP as Punctum landed somewhere in the middle. But Blume brings it all together best, sometimes in the space of a single 7-inch. His latest project as Struktur focuses on techno, using spiralling sequences to create slippages in space time.

Techno producers have created hypnotic loops since the sound was born. Blume essentially takes this single trope, magnifies it and studies it in miniature. While he's using the same techniques as hordes of other producers, his understanding of the nuances driving hypnotic sequences allows him to get the most effective results through very subtle means. The choice to pair odd-length sequences with high tempos intensifies the sense of disorientation, pulling the listener into an ever-tightening spiral that feels like circling into a sinkhole.

Pitches droop and rise in subtle curves as modulation sources gracefully shift the timbres, opening new ways of hearing the loop. Even though the kick drums are regularly paced, it's easy to lose track of the downbeat, especially in the beguiling B2, where you get the sense that nothing is anchored down and everything moves in celestial circles around an inscrutable central point. When techno is freed from the rhythmic signposts we use to orient our sense of time, the potential for abstraction and beauty increases. Blume understands this, harnessing its potential better than almost anyone else out there.